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Q: I have a question. Is it wrong to have your child believe in Santa Claus? I was with my family over Thanksgiving, and there was a discussion about it. I just wanted to know what you think about it. Thanks

A: Thanks for your email. That is a great question. I don’t think it is wrong to let your kids be kids and pretend and use their imagination. My wife and I have 2 kids and we have let them enjoy the fun of “Santa” coming at Christmas time. However, I do not think it is right to lie to your children, and when they ask about Santa, we should tell them the truth. Ultimately though, I think our focus at Christmas should be telling our kids about Jesus and explaining why we celebrate the holiday. Our kids love Christmas, and the excitement and fun that come from Christmas movies, parties, and gifts. We don’t remove them from that culture, but while we are celebrating with all of those things we do our best to focus them back on the reason for celebrating.

I remember last year talking with my children about Christmas and why we celebrate. When I asked them some questions about what Christmas meant, they told me that the reason that we celebrate is because it is Jesus’ birthday. Through that conversation I was able to talk with them about how cool it was that on Jesus’ birthday we get to celebrate by getting and giving gifts because the whole meaning of Christmas is about how God is a giver, and that He gives us good gifts, and how He gave an incredible gift to us in Jesus being born.

As far as talking with my children about Santa specifically…We never taught them about Santa Claus, but when they heard about Santa, through school, family, and other kids, and were excited about that pretend aspect of Christmas, we didn’t squash that enthusiasm. About 2 years ago when my son was 6 he asked me if Santa was real. I turned the question right back around and asked him what he thought. He said he didn’t think he was real, but that it was a fun thing to pretend. I agreed with him and told him that he was right. We went on to have a great conversation from there about the fact that Santa was a real person that lived long ago, but the santa that people talk about coming to your house and the Santa they have watched Christmas movies about is just pretend and something for fun. We also talked about the fact that his younger sister was still pretending about Santa and we should let her have fun with that until she asks about it too, which he agreed to do.

God has done so many amazing things already in 2011. He is obviously working on renewing people’s hearts and showing people how to serve one another. On January 23rd, Perry challenged people to minister to younger generations in the church. Tyler experienced God’s provision while attending NewSpring’s Anderson campus that day. Here’s his story:

“So I left my car unlocked in the parking lot. Today, when leaving the Anderson NewSpring campus, I found that someone had entered my car before I had left…and they put $100 on the floor. I was blown away. Apparently the message today really spoke to someone, and they acted on it. I’d like to thank whoever that was that felt God calling and answered. I’d also like them to know they bought lunch at Ryan’s for eight hungry college students. You guys are awesome. Keep doing what you’re doing, NewSpring, because it’s working.”

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If you have not seen this msnbc article about Matt Chandler and his fight with cancer you should read it today. It is one of the most personally challenging and inspiring things I have read in a while. Matt is a guy I have looked up to for a long time because of his preaching. But I admire how he is preaching with his life and how he lives out his faith even more.

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